allergies?

Hi,
Just wondering if anyone can help us. We have chicks that are 4 weeks old. The chicks are living in our basement at this time, they will be moved outside within the next month. We have noticed that after handling them, that we are a little itchy on the hands and arms, I guess you could say anywhere that they have contact with our skin. Does this mean we are allergic to them or is it just due to the dander that they create?

Could be the dander. What are you using for bedding? I use pine shavings and since I have allergies, I am alway a little itchy after cleaning their tractor. Used to happen when I handled my babies in the brooder too. If you have allergies to pet dander, then you will also be affected by chicken dander. I just use benedryl if it gets too bothersome.

I have multiple allergies but my chickens don't seem to bother me, which is a good thing because I'm not giving up my chickens! I do take Zyrtec (the formula that is behind the counter) which seems to control my allergies very well.

One thing that comes to mind - take a close look and make sure you don't have any mites/lice on your chicks. I had an episode with mites last summer. I got rid of the mites and haven't had any problems since.

Thanks
We are using pine shavings also. I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens once we get them outside. If it continues, then we will just have to take stock in Benadryl (ha ha). I am confident that once we get them outside and they can run around more it will change.
Have a great day.

We have checked them for mites & fleas and they do not seem to have them. If by chance, that does turn out to be the issue, what product do you use to get rid of them? My husband checked them again last nite and they do appear to be clean.
We are so new to this that any advice we get, we really appreciate.
Thanks

I use Eprinex, which is a form of Ivomec. It has zero withdrawal, which means we don't discard the eggs. I just place about 5 drops on the neck (under the feathers) of each chicken. It kills mites, lice, and worms. We have never seen a sign of worms and since that one episode last summer have not seen anything crawling on my flock. I treat each one at night when they are in their coops, so they are nice and calm. I do this about 4 times a year. When we did have the problem with mites, I retreated after 2 weeks to be sure, but never saw another bug on them.